One
of my all-time favorite pieces of literature is this section from Friedrich
Schiller’s William Tell:

“By
this fair light which greeteth us, before
Those other nations, that, beneath us far,
In noisome cities pent, draw painful breath,
Swear we the oath of our confederacy!
A band of brothers true we swear to be,
Never to part in danger or in death!

“We
swear we will be free as were our sires,
And sooner die than live in slavery!

“We
swear, to put our trust in God Most High,
And not to quail before the might of man!”

Another
personal favorite is the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Shakespeare’s
Henry V:

“This
story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered.

“We
few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother, be he ne'er so vile.
This day shall gentle his condition.

“And
gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.”

Schiller
and Shakespeare called it “Band of Brothers.” The Apostle
Peter called it “Brotherhood.” (I Peter 2:17) Call it what
you will: without it, no cause will prevail. And that is one of the
biggest problems we face in America today: there is very little brotherhood
among brothers.

No,
not all brothers are part of the brotherhood. The Scripture acknowledges
this in Proverbs 18:24, “There is a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother.” And again in Proverbs 27:10, “Better is
a neighbor that is near than a brother afar off.” A brother that
doesn’t “stick close” is certainly not part of the
brotherhood. Neither is a brother that is “afar off.”

The
sad truth is, even in the vast majority of churches, brotherhood is
virtually unknown. Sitting in a church congregation is no more indicative
of brotherhood than sitting in a crowded football stadium. In fact,
there might even be MORE brotherhood at a football game than there is
in the average church today.

Churches
today are literally eaten up with malice, jealousy, gossip, slander,
backbiting, faultfinding, ad infinitum. (But the same is true with other
establishment organizations as well.) For all intents and purposes,
today’s churches make a mockery of all that Jesus taught regarding
Christian love and brotherhood. On the whole, it simply does not exist
today.

For
the sake of this column, and for the freedom movement especially, let
me issue a clarion call for all of us who call ourselves Patriots. It
is absolutely critical that we recognize The Brotherhood of the Free.

After
signing the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin said, “We
must hang together, or we most assuredly will hang separately.”
How right he was!

Advertisement

Our
patriot-forebears, this “Band of Brothers,” were as diverse
a group of men as would ever be found. They represented virtually every
Christian denomination that existed in Colonial America. They also included
men who identified with no Christian church or denomination. While most
of our Founding Fathers were Christians, not all of them were. But they
all joined shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight for liberty and independence.
Christians were fighting for the freedom to worship God as they pleased,
and non-Christians were fighting for the freedom to not worship God
if they pleased. But both fought side-by-side for freedom. Why do Christians
today have such a blind spot in this regard?

It
doesn’t matter that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, or that Newt Gingrich
is a Catholic, or that Rick Santorum is a Catholic. What matters is
that not one of them is part of The Brotherhood of the Free. Not one
of them has a clue as to what the real principles of liberty and constitutional
government are all about. Not one of them recognizes the New World Order,
the emerging police state, or the foolhardiness of perpetual war--whatever
church they attend notwithstanding!

And
that’s the problem with most of our Christian “brothers”:
They just don’t get it! And when push comes to shove, most of
them will join with the forces of darkness in persecuting real Patriots
and freedom lovers. Don’t believe it? Look at how they are treating
Ron Paul.

Say
what you want about Ron Paul, he is an elder statesman in The Brotherhood
of the Free. Ron Paul is in the Brotherhood. He knows what’s going
on. He sees the danger. He cares about liberty. He understands the Constitution.
He is my brother in the fight!

Do
I agree with Dr. Paul about every issue? No! We will never agree with
our fellow Patriots about every single issue--neither should we have
to. We agree on the basics. We each love liberty and independence. We
believe in constitutional government. We despise globalism, corporatism,
socialism, and fascism. We recognize a police state when we see it.
We recognize the right of free moral beings to make their own personal
moral choices. As Christians, we know that only Christ can change the
hearts (and thereby, the conduct) of men--NOT GOVERNMENT!

Does
anyone find it more than interesting that men such as John Adams, Sam
Adams, and George Washington joined with Benjamin Franklin in signing
the Declaration of Independence? The Adams boys and Mr. Washington were
well known far and wide as men of intense piety and personal morality,
while Mr. Franklin was known by everyone to be an incurable ladies man--even
in his old age. If John and Sam and George would have behaved as so-called
Christians do today, they would have said, “If Ben is signing
this document, count me out!” But there they were, side-by-side,
shoulder-to-shoulder, fighting for liberty and independence.

I,
too, will gladly stand with my fellows in The Brotherhood of the Free.
It doesn’t mean that I approve of all that they do. It doesn’t
mean that I believe all that they believe. But it does mean as long
as they are part of the Brotherhood and are willing to fight for the
principles of liberty, I will stand with them!

Joining
Ron Paul are thousands of men and women who should be recognized as
part of this noble Brotherhood. As did our Founding Fathers, we come
from varied walks of life, varied religious persuasions, varied belief
systems, etc., but we all share a love of liberty and independence that
burns deeply in our breasts.

My
dear fellow Patriots, we are part of a Brotherhood. As Franklin said,
“We must hang together.” If we do, the cause of liberty
will prevail. If we do not, the cause of liberty will most assuredly
perish.

*If
you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial
opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit
card, check, or Money Order. Use
this link.

Chuck
Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and pastor
dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America was
founded. He was the 2008 Presidential candidate for the Constitution Party.
He and his wife, Connie, have 3 children and 8 grandchildren. Chuck and
his family reside in the Flathead Valley of Montana. See
Chuck's complete bio here.